§11.1Κάδμου κόραι, Σεμέλα μὲν Ὀλυμπιάδων ἀγυιᾶτις, §11.2Ἰνώ τε Λευκοθέα ποντιᾶν ὁμοθάλαμε Νηρηΐδων, §11.3ἴτε σὺν Ἡρακλέος ἀριστογόνῳ §11.4ματρὶ πὰρ Μελίαν χρυσέων ἐς ἄδυτον τριπόδων §11.5θησαυρόν, ὃν περίαλλʼ ἐτίμασε Λοξίας, §11.6Ἰσμήνιον δʼ ὀνύμαξεν, ἀλαθέα μαντίων θῶκον, §11.7ὦ παῖδες Ἁρμονίας, ἔνθα καί νυν ἐπίνομον ἡρωΐδων §11.8στρατὸν ὁμαγερέα καλεῖ συνίμεν, §11.9ὄφρα Θέμιν ἱερὰν Πυθῶνά τε καὶ ὀρθοδίκαν §11.10γᾶς ὀμφαλὸν κελαδήσετʼ ἄκρᾳ σὺν ἑσπέρᾳ, §11.11ἑπταπύλοισι Θήβαις §11.12χάριν ἀγῶνί τε Κίρρας, §11.13ἐν τῷ Θρασυδαῖος ἔμνασεν ἑστίαν §11.14τρίτον ἐπὶ στέφανον πατρῴαν βαλών, §11.15ἐν ἀφνεαῖς ἀρούραισι Πυλάδα §11.16νικῶν ξένου Λάκωνος Ὀρέστα.
Daughters of Cadmus, Semele, who dwells with the Olympians, and Ino Leucothea, sharer of the chamber of the ocean Nereids, go with the noble-born mother of Heracles to Melia, to the sanctuary of the golden tripods, the treasure-house which Loxias honored above all, and named the Ismenium, the true seat of prophets, O daughters of Harmonia, where even now he calls the gathered host of heroines to assemble together, so that you may celebrate holy Themis and Pytho, and the upright navel of the earth, at the peak of evening, as a grace to seven-gated Thebes and to the contest of Cirrha, in which Thrasydaeus made his ancestral hearth remembered by casting a third crown upon it, winning in the rich fields of Pylades, the land of his host, the Lacedaemonian Orestes.
§11.17τὸν δὴ φονευομένου πατρὸς Ἀρσινόα Κλυταιμνήστρας §11.18χειρῶν ὕπο κρατερᾶν ἐκ δόλου τροφὸς ἄνελε δυσπενθέος, §11.19ὁπότε Δαρδανίδα κόραν Πριάμου §11.20Κασσάνδραν πολιῷ χαλκῷ σὺν Ἀγαμεμνονίᾳ §11.21ψυχᾷ πόρευσʼ Ἀχέροντος ἀκτὰν παρʼ εὔσκιον
Him, when his father was being slain, Arsinoe, his nurse, rescued from the violent hands of Clytemnestra and from her grievous deceit, when the pitiless woman, with the grey bronze, sent the Dardanian maiden, Cassandra daughter of Priam, together with the soul of Agamemnon, to the shaded shore of Acheron.
§11.22νηλὴς γυνά.
The pitiless woman.
πότερόν νιν ἄρʼ Ἰφιγένειʼ ἐπʼ Εὐρίπῳ §11.23σφαχθεῖσα τῆλε πάτρας ἔκνισεν βαρυπάλαμον ὄρσαι χόλον;
Was it Iphigenia, slaughtered far from her fatherland at the Euripus, that vexed her to arouse her heavy-handed wrath?
Or was she subdued by another bed, and did nightly embraces lead her astray?
τὸ δὲ νέαις ἀλόχοις §11.26ἔχθιστον ἀμπλάκιον καλύψαι τʼ ἀμάχανον §11.27ἀλλοτρίαισι γλώσσαις· §11.28κακολόγοι δὲ πολῖται.
For young wives this is the most hateful error, and impossible to conceal because of the tongues of others; and the citizens are slanderous.
For prosperity holds no less envy; while he who breathes low murmurs unnoticed.
§11.31θάνεν μὲν αὐτὸς ἥρως Ἀτρεΐδας §11.32ἵκων χρόνῳ κλυταῖς ἐν Ἀμύκλαις, §11.33μάντιν τʼ ὄλεσσε κόραν, ἐπεὶ ἀμφʼ Ἑλένᾳ πυρωθέντων §11.34Τρώων ἔλυσε δόμους ἁβρότατος.
The hero son of Atreus himself died, arriving at last at glorious Amyclae, and destroyed the prophet maiden, after he had destroyed the proud houses of the Trojans, who were burned because of Helen.
ὁ δʼ ἄρα γέροντα ξένον §11.35Στρόφιον ἐξίκετο, νέα κεφαλά, §11.36Παρνασοῦ πόδα ναίοντʼ· ἀλλὰ χρονίῳ σὺν Ἄρει §11.37πέφνεν τε ματέρα θῆκέ τʼ Αἴγισθον ἐν φοναῖς.
But he, the young boy, came to his old host Strophius, who dwelt at the foot of Parnassus; yet, with Ares after a long time, he slew his mother and laid Aegisthus low in slaughter.
Have I indeed, my friends, been whirled about at a turning-point where paths diverge, though before I went on a straight road?
ἤ μέ τις ἄνεμος ἔξω πλόου §11.40ἔβαλεν, ὡς ὅτʼ ἄκατον εἰναλίαν;
Or did some wind cast me out of my course, as when a wind throws a boat on the sea?
§11.41Μοῖσα, τὸ δὲ τεόν, εἰ μισθοῖο συνέθευ παρέχειν §11.42φωνὰν ὑπάργυρον, ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλᾳ ταρασσέμεν §11.43ἢ πατρὶ Πυθονίκῳ §11.44τό γέ νυν ἢ Θρασυδαίῳ· §11.45τῶν εὐφροσύνα τε καὶ δόξʼ ἐπιφλέγει.
Muse, it is your part, if you agreed for hire to provide a silver-backed voice, to stir it now this way, now that, either for the father Pythonicus or now at least for Thrasydaeus; whose joy and glory are ablaze.
§11.46τὰ μὲν ἐν ἅρμασι καλλίνικοι πάλαι, §11.47Ὀλυμπίᾳ ἀγώνων πολυφάτων §11.48ἔσχον θοὰν ἀκτῖνα σὺν ἵπποις· §11.49Πυθοῖ τε γυμνὸν ἐπὶ στάδιον καταβάντες ἤλεγξαν §11.50Ἑλλανίδα στρατιὰν ὠκύτατι.
On one side, victors of old in chariots, at Olympia, in the much-famed contests, they held the swift beam of victory with their horses; and at Pytho, descending into the naked stadium, they proved the host of the Greeks slowest compared to their speed.
θεόθεν ἐραίμαν καλῶν, §11.51δυνατὰ μαιόμενος ἐν ἁλικίᾳ.
May I desire beautiful things from the gods, seeking what is possible in my youth.
§11.52τῶν γὰρ ἂμ πόλιν εὑρίσκων τὰ μέσα μακροτέρῳ §11.53ὄλβῳ τεθαλότα, μέμφομʼ αἶσαν τυραννίδων· §11.54ξυναῖσι δʼ ἀμφʼ ἀρεταῖς τέταμαι.
For finding that in a city the middle sort flourishes with more lasting prosperity, I blame the lot of tyrannies; and I strive for common virtues.
φθονεροὶ δʼ ἀμύνονται §11.55ἆται, εἴ τις ἄκρον ἑλὼν ἁσυχᾶ τε νεμόμενος αἰνὰν ὕβριν §11.56ἀπέφυγεν· μέλανος ἂν ἐσχατιὰν §11.57καλλίονα θανάτου στείχοι, γλυκυτάτᾳ γενεᾷ §11.58εὐώνυμον κτεάνων κρατίσταν χάριν πορών.
But envious ruin is turned away if someone, having reached the height and living quietly, avoids terrible insolence; he would walk to a more beautiful limit of dark death, providing for his sweetest offspring a good name, the strongest grace of possessions.
§11.59ἅ τε τὸν Ἰφικλείδαν §11.60διαφέρει Ἰόλαον §11.61ὑμνητὸν ἐόντα, καὶ Κάστορος βίαν, §11.62σέ τε, ἄναξ Πολύδευκες, υἱοὶ θεῶν, §11.63τὸ μὲν παρʼ ἆμαρ ἕδραισι Θεράπνας, §11.64τὸ δʼ οἰκέοντας ἔνδον Ὀλύμπου.
It is this that distinguishes Iolaus, the son of Iphicles, who is praised in song, and the strength of Castor, and you, king Polydeuces, sons of the gods, who dwell one day in the seats of Therapne, and the other inside Olympus.